Conor Fox of Moate CS brings the ball away from James Keeley of Scoil Mhuire, Clane during the Leinster Schools SF 'A' game on Tuesday. Photo: Paul Molloy.

Moate CS advance in style as draw for quarter-finals is made

Published: Thu 12 Jan 2023, 11:00 AM

Last updated: Thu 12 Jan 2023, 11:35 AM

GAA: Leinster Post-Primary Schools SF 'A' Preliminary Round

Moate CS 5-16 Scoil Mhuire, Clane 2-6

Kevin Egan reports

Moate Community School rubber stamped their credentials as real contenders for the Brother Bosco Cup on Tuesday afternoon when they moved through the gears in the second half of their clash with Scoil Mhuire, Clane.

Moate CS racked up four second half goals at Lakepoint Park, Mullingar, to march into the last eight of the Leinster Schools competition with plenty of momentum behind them.

Niall Daly’s troops would have been the happier side with a 1-9 to 1-3 half-time lead, but a fresh breeze was about to favour Scoil Mhuire in the second half. And on a playing surface that was always likely to facilitate fast, free-scoring football, there was still plenty of reason for the Clane school to believe that they could make their way into the last eight of this prestigious championship.

Chasing the game didn’t suit Scoil Mhuire, however, as they conceded the first two scores of the second half to Ronan Murray and Eoin Bracken, and while they replied with the next two points, quickfire two goals in as many minutes from Pádraig McLoughlin and Murray pushed the lead out to double figures. From there on, Moate CS - who last contested a Leinster Senor 'A' final in 2017 - never looked back.

A superb piece of improvisation saw Caulry's Tiarnan O’Donovan strike goal number four with Murray putting his name on the fifth after a very slick team move. W

hile DJ Percival struck a late 1-1 for Scoil Mhuire, his muted reaction to the goal illustrated that there was no doubt about the result at that stage of the contest.

With heavy overnight rain forcing the game to be moved from Moate Community School’s home field to the astro turf surface at St Loman’s, it was the “home” side that relished the faster, harder ground in the early stages, as they moved 0-5 to 0-1 to the good after just ten minutes.

Moate All Whites club colleagues Eoin Bracken and Daragh Lowry were hugely influential in the middle third and on the scoresheet, while Rosemount's David O’Reilly also chipped in with a towering score, while dominating the fielding battle as well.

A stunning solo goal from Rhys Vaughan dragged Scoil Mhuire back into contention, but Moate’s response was exemplary. Two dead ball scores and O’Donovan's point from play cancelled out the goal, and then O’Reilly’s flat pass into Conor Fox left the Tubber man with a clean run through on goals. He rifled the ball to the top corner for a stunning goal, stretching the lead to seven.

Two good points from DJ Percival before half-time suggested that Clane might yet rally, but they were soon to learn that a very impressive Moate CS team had another gear they were about to find.

Moate CS have been drawn against St Peter's College, Wexford in the quarter-finals. Due to the distance between the two schools, it is likely that this game will be played at a neutral venue next week.

The other quarter-finals are as follows (with first named team at home in each case): Naas CBS v Coláiste Eoin, St Mel’s College v Offaly Schools and Coláiste Choilm, Tullamore v St Patrick’s CS, Navan.

Scorers - Moate CS: R Murray 2-3, T O’Donovan 1-2, E Bracken 0-5 (4f), C Fox 1-1, P McLoughlin 1-0, D O’Reilly 0-2 (1f), D Lowry, D Shirley and A Murphy 0-1 each. Scoil Mhuire, Clane: DJ Percival 1-4 (0-2f), R Vaughan 1-0, T O’Donoghue and C Denagher (f) 0-1 each.

Moate Community School: James Mitchell; Padraig McLoughlin, Cathal Guinan, Tom Gorman; Adam Keane, Donal Shirley, Aodhán Curran; Daragh Lowry, David O’Reilly; Conaire Martin, Eoin Bracken, Dean O’Neill; Conor Fox, Ronan Murray, Tiarnan O’Donovan. Subs: Cian Rainey for Keane (58 mins), Aaron Murphy for O’Reilly (59).

Scoil Mhuire, Clane: Hugh Muldoon; James O’Donoghue, Aaron Manders, Conor Sullivan; Calum Doran, James Keely, Rhys Vaughan; Daniel Colbert, Enda Keane; Aidan Ralph, Cormac Denagher, Adam Fitzpatrick; Tadhg O’Donoghue, James Ralph, DJ Percival. Subs: James Donlon for A Ralph (42 mins), Ronan Doorey for J Ralph (46), Conor Dunne for Keane (54), Ethan Farrell for J O’Donoghue (54), Ben Kehoe for T O’Donoghue (59).

Referee: Eamon O’Connor (Offaly).